Tag Archives: Earth Day

We all want to say we care about the planet and want to do our part to save it. But, then, things come up and saving a planet just doesn’t fit in our schedules: too busy to plant a whole tree, don’t want to get dirt on our cute dresses, etc.

Now for those, who don’t believe anything is happening to our plant – please, see my other articles, and also, you stink.

Anyway! There are PLENTY of things us lazy, non-outdoor folk can do to honor Earth Day!

Go buy a reusable water bottle! Yay, shopping time. Here I come, Amazon. Stop using plastic water bottles and tossing them. Last year, we threw out over 70% of our water bottles instead of recycling, so since it seems super difficult for us to recycle, let’s just have reusable bottles, ‘kay?

Plant a tree… from your laptop. Donate easily to plant a tree here and be one in a billion! Donate as little as $1 to The Nature Conservancy and select what region of the world you want your tree planted. SO EASY AND LAZY.

Start a garden! Put hose DIY skills to the test and make a itsy bitsy gardne on your balcony or patio or window ledge. Grow some tomatoes, herbs, whatevs. This way you can show off your mad green-thumb skills with a super cool Insta post.

Spring Cleaning and Replacement! It’s time to throw out the old beauty products, and buy some new eco-friendly ones. Try Tarte Lip Crayons, Alba Botanica products, Burt’s Bees stuff, and more. This is a selfishly fun way to save the planet; plus, who doesn’t love to buy new make-up?

Save the oceans, animals, and forests while you watch Netflix and stuff your face with ice cream. Here are a bunch of great organizations you can donate $1 or more. Celebrate Earth Day by donating your Starbucks’ drink for the day (money-wise, don’t ship your drink to one of these poor organizations).

Clean up your mailbox. That’s right, time to delete and stop that junk mail! Check this site to see how you can stop those credit card scams and catalog junk mail to help save thousands of paper and trees. By filling these forms out online, you can sit on your butt and save trees. Go you!

Re-evaluate your cooking style! Reducing red meat consumption can dramatically save hundreds of gallons of water PER serving. Or choose pasture-fed beef if you can. I promise turkey burgers are as delicious as hamburgers if you cook ’em right. You do have to go to the store to do this one, but you need food, right?

Earth Day is this month, and that means we have 30 out of 356 days to thank our lovely planet for life, and only 1 single day that we actually think about it (#EarthDay). And then it is on to forgetting once again.So, may I present to you, facts about our not-so-green-living-lives that will make you turn sickly green.

[Also, make sure to check out the last fact for some INSANE information…mind-blowingly unfortunate.]

Each of us creates 4.7lbs of trash A DAY.
We are rubbish.

54% of our trash ends up in landfills.

75% of our waste products are recyclable but we only recycle 30% of it.

If we composted the 21.5 million tons of food waste, then it would be equivalent to taking 2 million cars off the road.

We throw away 28 million bottles and jar every year.

We’re doing better on recycling paper! Recycling has increased over 90% since 1990.
High-fiving a million angels right now.

In 2011, less than 10% of businesses recycled…. great.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch – how disgusting are we?

Located 1,000 miles west of San Fransisco in the Pacific Ocean….literally a garbage dump in the ocean

3 MILLION TONS of garbage

TWICE the size of Texas

Clockwise trade wins along Pacific Rim pushes garbage from ships, beaches, etc. to this central area

It’s 80% plastic

You’re welcome. I hope you remember at least one of these facts. If not, well you stink. But that’s for another day! Happy #EarthMonth everyone!

Did you know that we only have one planet? I KNOW. Crazy, right? Who would have thought, given how much we’re currently tearing this bad boy up.

There are many non-believers out there (non-believers and non-Beliebers) that say climate change is a hoax. Although I believe this to be cray, I can see where people are coming from. AND with that, I hope to clear up some disbelief. Shall we begin?

1. People say we have had climate cycles in the past so this is just normal

Well, although we have had climate cycles in the past, we are WAY above the carbon levels of any of those other times. Compared to the last three glacial cycles, our current carbon dioxide levels are astronomical. That’s comparing it to four-hundred thousands years back. And let’s be honest, who is actually prepared for an Ice Age? Here we are getting ourselves psyched up for a zombie apocalypse when we should be stocking up on winter clothes! Carbon traps heat, which leads to all whole slew of problems. Thus, we can think of carbon emissions as the first domino of an earth-shaped domino pattern.

2. Everyone have their life-preservers handy?

Sea levels are rising. Now, I live in Florida, and we are not allowed to say the CC words (*whispering* “climate chan…” I didn’t finish my sentence Gov. Scott!) However, we are the one state already being impacted by the rising tide. Sea water expands as it warms and there are a ton of icebergs melting, which adds a smidgen of water to the equation. Houses and businesses on the coast are in danger of flooding, both from rain storms and as a slow-process. Trump Towers are conveniently on coasts throughout the U.S. so thank goodness those will be the first to go! But more seriously, animal ecosystems and habitats can be lost, too, leading to more endangered species, like the Hawksbill Turtle or Leatherback Turtle.

3. Iceberg ahead! (Too soon, Leo?)

Icebergs are melting. It’s getting serious up in here. Antarctica has lost 134 billion metric tons of ice PER YEAR since 2002. What is the billion metric equivalent to, you ask? A gagillion ice cubes. And what happens to these ice bergs? They melt and contribute to rising sea levels, which contribute to loss of habitat and homes. So it is kind of a big deal. At the rate our ice is melting from our toxic emissions, the Arctic will be ICE FREE by the mid-century. Do you know how hot this planet will be by then?

4. I’m getting acid reflux….from the ocean

Our oceans are becoming more and more acidic with the amount of carbon dioxide we emit. Water traps those gases (1/3 of the carbon in the air actually gets absorbed by the oceans), and then we swim in that water. And here you were just afraid someone urinated in the water near you, but you didn’t think about the acid floating around you. Because of the acid, coral reefs are being bleached, which leads to the habitat loss of many fish and other sea amenities (you know you said this over and over like Nemo).

Our planet is warming up to be nice and toasty. But that is not a good thing. I know, it is freezing in northern states still, so there cannot possibly be climate change! Um that is not exactly how it works. If that was the case, Floridians and Arizonians would have been calling climate change thousands of year ago. 2015 was the warmest year on record.

What does a hot planet mean exactly? Well for some areas it means more evaporation and precipitation (rain, people) because the atmosphere layer protecting us is getting thinner and thinner. Other places, meanwhile, will be so hot that crops and basically all plants will combust. It can mean more severe weather storms, or intense heat can lead to serious health concerns.

6. It ain’t eezy being wheezy

Health concerns are definitely high on the worry chart when it comes to climate change. All this carbon dioxide and other such chemicals has contributed to skyrocketed number of cases of asthma. Asthma is a long-term disease; it is no little cold then goes away. Trust me, I have it. Other health concerns from climate change: cancer (esp. skin cancers), water-borne diseases, natural disaster related deaths, mental health diseases, and more.

And these are just 6 of a multitude of effects climate change will have on our lives. If you want to learn what the other consequences are then venture to click the last link I provided below. It’s pretty scary stuff. But, I hope I have helped to convince a few of you out there that climate change is actually a thing.